


I'm As Bitter As You Are Sweet

by nightberrypearl



Series: Twohyun Week 2018 - @nightberrypearl [1]
Category: NU'EST
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Fluff, Ice Americano, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-01
Updated: 2018-10-01
Packaged: 2019-07-20 16:34:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16141193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nightberrypearl/pseuds/nightberrypearl
Summary: Minhyun is a regular at the coffee shop in which Jonghyun works, but one day he deviates from his usual order of grapefruit juice.For Twohyun Week 2018, Day 1: Firsts





	I'm As Bitter As You Are Sweet

**Author's Note:**

> It's Twohyun Week!!!! 
> 
> At last ahaha, for me it feels like it's been forever since I started planning for this. We must have started early planning for this event mid/end of June? So it really has been a while that this event has been in my mind. 
> 
> This was one of the last ones I wrote for this week, back in mid-september, so forgive me if it's like... utter rubbish, I was beginning to run out of steam by that point and still had 3 more days unwritten...
> 
>  
> 
> (Also a small handfull of ppl may have seen this when I accidently posted earlier and then deleted. Sorry about that false alarm.)

Jonghyun relaxed against the counter top as he rolled his shoulders and stretched out his neck. He was halfway through a rather lengthy shift at the coffee shop in which he worked, and he had just finished serving a whole bunch of uptight business men who, without their dose of caffeine, had been extra tetchy. So, it was a relief to have these few moments of reprieve where he could relax.

He almost groaned as he heard the bell of the front door ring, signalling the arrival of more customers. But his mood was instantly lifted when he looked over and saw Minhyun walk through the door. Minhyun was a regular patron of the shop where Jonghyun worked, and he ordered the same thing every single time: a regular grapefruit juice. The first time he had ordered it, Jonghyun had been slightly taken aback by the fact that he came to a coffee shop to order juice, but Minhyun had since explained that he liked the ambience of a coffee shop but didn’t like the bitterness of coffee, which Jonghyun supposed was reasonable.

Minhyun normally came by himself, but on that particular day, a friend came in with him.

“Hey there, what can I get for you guys today?” Jonghyun asked in his habitually cheerful customer service voice.

Minhyun’s friend spoke up first and ordered a latte before turning to Minhyun to ask what he wanted. It was only then that Jonghyun noticed the dark aura surrounding the taller male. If Jonghyun wasn’t mistaken, he appeared to be sulking with his arms crossed against his chest and an irritated frown on his face, painting a perfect picture of annoyance.

“For me, ice americano.” He replied gruffly before continuing glare out the window. In all the time that Minhyun had been visiting the shop, never once had he ordered anything besides grapefruit juice. This change of order was perhaps the second warning sign that Minhyun wasn’t quite himself that day.

Jonghyun watched as the friend rolled his eyes at Minhyun’s standoffishness before inputting Minhyun’s order into the till.

“Is Minhyun okay?” Jonghyun asked as Minhyun’s friend paid for their drinks. Aside from Minhyun’s general tense disposition, his choice of drink was also quite alarming for someone who didn’t like coffee for its bitterness.

“Oh, yeah, well sort of,” The friend began, “it’s just that when he’s angry, he likes to order a drink as bitter as he feels.” He explained.

“Right…” Jonghyun said slightly bemused as he tried to wrap his head around the strange logic.

The two friends went to sit at a table secluded in the corner of the shop as Jonghyun turned and set about making their drinks.

He let his mind drift into his own thoughts as he made the drinks – he had been a barista for so long that he could practically make all of the drinks blindfolded.

It had been a bit of a shock to Jonghyun that Minhyun was angry. Whenever Jonghyun saw him in the past, he had always been rather happy and cheerful as he ordered his grapefruit juice. He felt compelled to do something to try and lift the taller man’s spirits. He didn’t like to see Minhyun so sullen, it didn’t suit him. And it would be a lie to say that Jonghyun hadn’t developed a slight crush on the tall handsome brunet that frequented his coffee shop.

After finishing up their drinks, Jonghyun placed them carefully on a tray, along with two slices of cake, before taking them over to the two friends. He hoped that the sweetness of the cake would help lift Minhyun’s mood and besides, everyone loved a good slice of cake, didn’t they? He felt obliged to bring over two slices so that Minhyun’s friend wasn’t left out and his blatant favouritism wasn’t quite so obvious.

Minhyun seemed to relax slightly from his previously tense state when Jonghyun set the cake down in front of them with what he hoped was a comforting smile.

“Cake is on the house, hope you feel better soon.” Jonghyun explained as he turned around and left them to their cake and coffee.

He returned behind the counter and tried to distract himself from looking over at Minhyun, it wouldn’t do him any good to be distracted or to be caught staring after all. Normally, Minhyun would come up to the counter to provide Jonghyun with some company in between orders. They would chat about themselves and exchange stories about their days as Minhyun sipped on his juice. Jonghyun was a little sad that Minhyun didn’t join him on that day, but it was understandable given that this time he wasn’t alone, so he tried not to let it get to him so much.

Eventually Minhyun and his friend left the shop with a quick ‘thanks’ for the cake and coffee, leaving Jonghyun to continue the rest of his shift.

 

\\\\\

 

The next day, Jonghyun was surprised to see Minhyun nearly waltz back through the front door of the shop with his usual smile back on his face and seeming far more invigorated than the previous day.

“Feeling better?” Jonghyun asked as he went about making Minhyun’s grapefruit juice.

“A lot better thanks.” His reply accompanied by a relaxed and easy-going smile.

“Good, I’m glad,” Jonghyun responded almost bashfully, “I hope it wasn’t anything serious that got you angry.”

“It’s mostly nothing now,” Minhyun assured him, “Just one of my flatmates broke my vacuum yesterday.”

Jonghyun raised his eyebrows at the explanation, it seemed a bit bizarre to him that a mere vacuum could cause such a big reaction.

“My vacuum is precious to me.” Minhyun explained, his tone entirely serious.

“I see…” Jonghyun said, trying not to laugh at how passionate Minhyun seemed about  _a vacuum_.

“It’s fine now though, I made them promise to pay for a replacement.” He chirped happily.

 “Well then I’m glad it’s all sorted then.” Jonghyun laughed lightly as he turned around to hand Minhyun his drink.

“Thanks for the cake yesterday, by the way.” Minhyun said as he leaned against the collection counter.

“It’s nothing,” Jonghyun replied as he waved his hand dismissively,” I just thought that some cake might help lift your spirits.”

“It was very sweet of you, thank you.” He said gratefully.

“You should let me pay you back.” Minhyun offered as he reached for his wallet.

“Don’t worry about it.” Jonghyun exclaimed as he rushed to lay a hand on Minhyun’s to stop him from reaching for his money. “It’s on the house, it’s fine.”

Minhyun stared at Jonghyun’s hand on his, making Jonghyun quickly retract it out of embarrassment.

“Well… If you won’t let me pay you back, at least let my buy you some cake and coffee in return?” Minhyun asked shyly.

 “I’m already an employee here in a coffee shop though? There’s already plenty cake and coffee.” Jonghyun reasoned.

“Well, we could go somewhere else… where there’s different cake and coffee?” Minhyun said hesitantly.

It took a moment for Jonghyun to process Minhyun’s question. It seemed like Minhyun… he was trying to ask him out? Jonghyun almost couldn’t believe it, but it seemed to be a very real proposition if the nervous look on Minhyun’s face was anything to go by.

“Like… a date?” Jonghyun tried to clarify, hoping that they were in fact on the same page.

Minhyun instantly began to turn red as he responded with a sharp nod.

“Yeah, that’s exactly what I want it to be.” He confirmed, suddenly sounding far more confident.

“I suppose that would be acceptable.” Jonghyun responded offhandedly, trying to downplay how excited his was, but the splitting grin on his face betrayed how he really felt.

Minhyun matched his grin with a beaming smile of his own as they exchanged numbers.

That day, Minhyun stayed leaning against the counter, talking to Jonghyun as he sipped on his grapefruit juice. It was a shame that eventually Minhyun had to leave, neither of them particularly wanting to cut short their conversation, but it was okay because he left only after promising to text later to arrange their date.

Jonghyun finally finished his shift a number of hours later, utterly exhausted. But his fatigue was instantly soothed when his attention was diverted by his phone blinking with a notification of a text from Minhyun.

**Minhyun:** Hey, so when are you free for that cake and coffee? :)

 

Jonghyun could feel the smile forming on his lips as he quickly texted his reply. They ended up deciding on going for coffee in two days’ time.

Jonghyun had never been more excited for coffee.

**Author's Note:**

> So... I hope that wasn't too bad, I thought some fluff would be good to start this week.
> 
> I hope everyone has fun reading the other fics being written for this week, and it would be great to see people leaving kudos and comments to show their appreciation for the writers who have worked hard for this week, I'm sure it really help make their day :)
> 
> Anyway, I'll be back to post again tomorrow, please anticipate more fluff hehehe
> 
> For links to other 2hyun content for this week, we're trying our best to compile it in threads on twitter, in addition to the official Twohyun Week 2018 AO3 Collection.
> 
> Link to [@twohyunweek](https://twitter.com/twohyunweek)
> 
> Find me on twitter [@nightberrypearl](https://twitter.com/nightberrypearl) or my [Curious Cat](https://curiouscat.me/nightberrypearl)


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